U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers presiding over Abilify gambling lawsuits has finalized six individual cases for a “fast-tracked” discovery process. As per the judge's order issued on September 13, the discovery process would involve six claims.
Each of the six plaintiffs is required to submit a completed Plaintiff Fact Sheet, medical, financial records along with gambling record authorizations, and other relevant documents within one week. The order also states that the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Joint Discovery Committee are required to submit a proposed discovery schedule for these six selected cases earliest by October 26, 2018. The proposed schedule must include a briefing schedule for dispositive and other significant motions like consolidation, punitive damages, statutes of limitations that must be resolved before the trial. If the parties involved in the second round of bellwether trials fail to reach a settlement agreement or otherwise resolve the litigation, Judge Rogers might remand a large number of cases back to federal courts. Judge Rodgers also issued a separate case management order on the same day, stating the next set of trials would commence in the spring of 2019.
Abilify litigation was centralized in the Northern District of Florida in October 2016 as a part of multidistrict litigation MDL No. 2734 (In Re: Abilify Compulsive Behavior Products Liability Litigation).
